A Virtual Trunk Show!

Right now there is an online Trunk Show going on and I thought I'd take part. 

You can view the Trunk Show here at Whims and Fancies....or click on the "Trunk Full of Quilts" button on the right side of the screen.

I haven't had too many finishes this year, but that's not unusual. Since most of my quilts are hand-appliqued they tend to take a couple of years to complete....plus there is the fact that I have way too many projects on the go!!!

The two quilts I am showcasing for the Trunk Show are ones that I had a lot of fun with and don't mind talking about them yet again.


Moonlight Thru' the Trees

The first is a group project where each person chose their theme and everyone contributed a block to the quilt.

My theme was neutrals. I had always wanted to do a neutral quilt, but was surprised at the difficulty I had with it...until an unusual brainstorm came upon me.

You can read about the brainstorm here, and see other posts about it here and here.

I love how my neutral quilt turned out. I am currently redecorating a guest room and this quilt will hang there.


Flower Garden

My Flower Garden quilt was a quilt that took approximately two years to applique and three weeks to quilt, although there were many days I "ran away" from the quilting, so maybe I could have had it done in two weeks.

This is my second Kim McLean quilt and I've enjoyed both of them.

Check out this post to read more about my recent completion of my Flower Garden quilt.


My Circles

I'm including a picture of My Circles quilt. It was actually completed last year but I wish stroke my ego a bit and share a picture of my quilt hanging this year at Quilt Canada in the National Juried Show, where it won a second-place ribbon in it's category. 

This is truly a highlight in my quilting life! Thanks for indulging me!!

I hope you'll take time to sit with a cup of coffee or tea and visit with the many bloggers who are sure to take part in this virtual trunk show.....I know I will!

Something splendid!

I'm enjoying the Splendid Sampler. The fourth block was released yesterday and I had to get right at it this morning with my morning coffee. Here are my first four blocks so far...

The fourth one isn't quite done, but almost. They are all so cute!

I'm finally catching up on my Quilty365/Day in My Life since being ill last week. All the hearts are at least prepared if not sewn down...

The heart with the little Japanese girls was as close as I could get to represent going to the Mandarin on Sunday for lunch. I know, wrong country, but I love that fabric and wanted to get it in there!

I find I'm venturing into backgrounds that aren't always neutral. Hmm, that's ok!

Another splendid....our progress on our new fireplace. I have snuck in some painting here and there this week...it's coming along!

Could there be yet another "splendid"?, you ask. Why, yes, yes there is!

I received an email yesterday congratulating me for my quilt being accepted into the National Juried Show this year at Quilt Canada! What a feeling, to be recognised at what one is passionate about. How exciting!

The quilt is my Circle quilt, which you can see in the banner of this blogpost, as well as here... 

The sun is shining after a couple of rainy, grey days....makes me feel like just getting out and soaking up some Vitamin D.

Have a great day!

Ribbons!!!

Well!!!

I had so much fun with my Circles this past year. I purchased the pattern at QuiltCanada2014, so there is a sentiment there. I thoroughly enjoyed the applique process (big surprise, huh??? lol). And I had so much fun quilting it, using a lot of techniques I've learned the last couple of years with some world renowned quilters!

Now, to top it all off, my Circles has won at the Norfolk County Fair....First Place in it's division and also taking Grand Champion for Machine Quilting! What a glorious end to this quilt's journey!

Here it is with it's big ribbon....

....and here are a couple of close-ups while it was being quilted.....

I had three other quilts entered in the Fair this year. I thought three may have a chance at ribbons and the fourth would be iffy. Well, the iffy one actually won a prize for hand-quilted crib quilt and my Home Sweet Home didn't place at all. Lol, I always forget about Home Sweet Home but entered it since it had had such high interest in my last trunk show!

Here is the one I entered as a crib quilt, Raise the Barn Roof High. I entered it there because of the size....it was either that or "wall-hanging" and it doesn't have a sleeve so I was afraid it would get disqualified in that category. It is a small one, perfect to put on my lap while I'm appliquing in the morning!

I was a bit surprised that it had ribboned since I was trying a new quilting technique on this one. I was very happy with the technique and the results but didn't really know how the judges would like it. I guess they liked it well enough!

This is my Sunburst quilt. It also received a ribbon, which I am proud of. I hand-pieced the main blocks in this quilt over 10 years ago and just this past year I got the quilt together.....mainly because it was involved in a UFO challenge. I also used many techniques recently learned while quilting this quilt.

Earlier this week, I published a blog post trying to figure out whether or not to continue Auntie Green's Garden or bring it to an early finish.

I have something to admit. After seeing my Circles hanging there with it's beautiful ribbon, I do have a dream to do well with a hand-quilted quilt. I think Auntie Green's Garden is the one I will focus on in the next year, as I would really like to hand-quilt this one. So, some of my other many, many projects will have to be packed away for awhile so I can concentrate my early morning sessions on this quilt!

Well, I'd better be off to work...it's a short day today as I will be taking a class at Quilt Junction in Waterford later on today!

Have a great day!

Binding epiphany

Is anyone else working down to the wire to have quilts ready for their local fairs?

Here is what I'll be stitching at for the next couple of mornings...

I've always thought my bindings were done quite well....afterall I've been binding quilts for more than 35 years, right?

Well, last year at the Hagersville Guild we had guest speakers who were Fair judges. It was so interesting. I know that judges like to see a binding that is filled up with quilt, but what I didn't know is that they like the binding to be the same width on the front of the quilt as on the back of it.

I made this binding by cutting it 2.25" as opposed to the 2.5" that I might normally do. Darn it if I didn't still have a wider binding on the back than the front. Then clued in that I should trim the quilt just a wee bit less. Not sure if I'm making this clear but I'll try to show what I mean in a couple of pictures.

Here is my quilt untrimmed...

I figure my seam is 1/4", so I usually trim the edge for binding like this....

So, I'm sure everyone else would have clued in long ago, but not me! It's not so much the width of the binding, but how much quilt is there to cover by binding. I'm not sure I'm getting my point made clearly. This morning I trimmed my quilt a bit less (the middle couple of inches in the picture).....

and, lo and behold, it worked! Yay for small victories! lol

On a personal note, I was shocked this morning to hear of trouble during pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia. My brother-in-law is there now to take his very ill father on a last pilgrimage. Luckily, I got in touch with my sister and she heard from Rakan early this morning that their pilgrimage has taken them on to the next site and they should be home safe and sound on Monday. Thank goodness!

Also, I am going to see a Naturopath for the first time ever today. I am very curious on how this kind of thing plays out. I almost felt like cancelling, but I'm too curious on how a visit with a Naturopath will differ from a "regular" doctor. We'll see!

Hope everyone is getting their quilts ready for the Fair also....Have a great day!

Sunday stitches

The last Sunday of Summer 2015....I know we probably say this every year, but summer sure seemed to go fast!

I started my day out by working a little on my Flower Garden. And, I know I probably say this every Sunday, but I wish I could just sit and applique all day today. It really is my form of meditation every morning.  Earlier this week my sister commented that I should try to stay up later at night so I could sleep in. Well, that wouldn't work, as I know very well that I would still be an early bird. What she just doesn't understand is that I love that first bit of time to my day. In fact, I consider it important. To each his own!

I have a few birds to applique on the top border, then it will be done....

This week I worked hard on one of my own quilts as I would like it done in time for the local Fair. I did finish it yesterday, except for the binding, and I'm quite happy with the results. What a lot of fun I had quilting this one!

Have a great day....and check out what others are working on today at Kathy's Quilts!

QuiltX.....and more Circles!

What a lovely week it's been weather-wise....I could take a couple more months of this, for sure.

I'd like to say that I've been able to take advantage of the nice days and be outside puttering away at the garden, etc., but, no, I've been having way to much fun playing on my Circle quilt!

I should continue working on it today, as I think about four more hours will call it done but I have decided to play hookie and take a day off with the girlfriends.

We made our way up to St. Mary's to an event called QuiltX and you can see what it's about HERE. It is a different kind of quilt event put on by a number of vendors. Of course, it was nice to go by way of Tillsonburg so we could drop in on Cynthia at Cherished Pieces.

One of the vendors was our friend, Lana from Quilt Junction, in Waterford. She had a lovely booth and seemed quite busy!

There were many, many vendors and it was nice that they all had their own "flavour"....not a repeat of the same fabrics from booth to booth.

I bought this necklace from Hyggelit....I kept walking past it saying "no", but finally twisted my arm and gave in.....

Although the event was mainly a showcase of vendors, they do have a couple of guest speakers doing lectures. Today was a quilter named Johanna Masko and this afternoon's lecture was about taking the mystery out of making a Farmer's Wife quilt. Here is a bit of a shot of her lovely neutral Farmer's Wife....

Now, after 35 years of being a quilter, I do consider myself somewhat experienced....but the pattern book for Farmer's Wife was beyond me! I have long since stowed mine away in a box and not looked at it for years. After today, I think I may have to re-visit this UFO and look at it with new eyes with all Johanna shared in her talk.

QuiltX is still on tomorrow (Sept 19). If you need a bit of retail therapy, I suggest taking a drive to St. Mary's. Oh, and I always appreciate it when a show makes an effort to provide a good tea room/luncheon and they certainly have done that, as well!

That's all for now. I'm sure this post isn't my best writing, but it's been a long day! A long one, but a nice one spent with good friends.

Have a great weekend!

Circles... and so it begins!

What a dreary weekend.....but we do need the rain! Makes for a good time to start quilting on my Circle quilt.

After a rocky start (don't ask), I'm pleased with the start......

....and, of course, I started my day with a few stitches on my Flower Garden. I really should be getting back to Auntie Green's Garden, but I'm just enjoying this border so much!

Hmm, I may have to replace that one circle....it will bother me that it's so close to the same fabric in the wing of the bird!

Have a visit over at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are stitching on today!

Have a great day!

Circles!

Well, this week certainly flew by! How can one stat holiday make such a difference?

I will work today on a lovely quilt and later on get to start the thought process on a special custom job....my own! If you ask any longarm quilter, I'll bet they'll tell you the same thing....in order to get one of our own quilt tops done it has to be put on the schedule just like anyone else!....or we'll never get to it.

I am hoping to come up with some grand ideas for my "Circles".

It has a fairly wide border, so I really want to fill it with something nice. My biggest quandary is what to do in the very middle of each circle? Hmmm, hopefully something will pop into my brain.

My motivation on getting this done is that I hope to enter it into the Fair this year. I'd like to encourage everyone to consider entering a quilt into a Fair at some point. It's discouraging to hear people say that their work isn't worthy. It's such a good feeling to share our work, especially at the Fair. Next time you go to the Fair take note of all the people in our community that wander thru' the aisles. It's so nice for them to see the quilts (or baked goods, or needlework, etc.) that we enjoy.

I had a nice dinner out last night at our local Boston Pizza. It was especially good since I got to sit across from this delightful little girl and watch her utter enjoyment of her noodles and then her ice cream. So precious!

Have a great day!

Mixed feelings.....

As I'm waiting for a visitor this morning, I thought I'd do something productive. I just had two more borders to attach to my Circles so thought it would be nice to have a "finish" today!

Here it is freshly hung on the design wall.....

Now, it does feel good to have a "finish"....I think we can all agree with that....but as I was pressing out the last border I felt a bit melancholy. I really enjoyed working on these Circles! It's a project from a kit I bought at Quilt Canada last year. It was a go-to project when I just needed something simple to occupy my time. It was also my first time, I think, working with these types of fabrics. So many good memories went into the stitches of this quilt!

I really wanted this one completed soon as it is on my calendar to quilt on the longarm in September. (Yes, if us longarmers don't put our own quilts on the schedule they never seem to get quilted!) The fabrics are so soft, though, that if I paired it up with some wool batting it would be a dream to hand-quilt!!!!

Thanks to one of my friends, KathyH, for introducing me a few years back to what is now my favourite perennial , the Hibiscus. I now have a couple in my garden and I've been waiting patiently (or not) for them to bloom this summer. I know my garden always seems to be a bit behind in blooming, but this year I think it seems more-so.

Finally, a few buds are showing and I should have beautiful big blooms in the next few days!

Have a bloomin' good day!